Tooth for digger bucket



Dec. 2U, 1955 Q E EVANS EVAL 2,727,318

TOOTH FOR BIGGER BUCKET 1 i Z4 a if l I 2 5 11 1;) mi 1 f 1w Mrt :.1

fr/577i 572-5# baz/@e555 F2/@22,5 ./izffg/A. Baza@ er Dec. 20, 1955 c.E. EVANS TAL TOGTH FOR BIGGER BUCKET 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 19,1951 65E Haz/0f We L 575 United States Patent 'Office 2,727,318 PatentedDec. 20, 1955 Toorn Fok BIGGER BUCKET Charles E. Evans, Naperville, andHarry A. Barber, Aurora, Ill., assignors to Barber-Greene Company,Aurora, lll., a corporation of Illinois Application February 19, 1951,Serial No. 211,648 Claims. (Cl. 37-142) This invention relates totoothed diggers and more particularly to a tooth for detachableinsertion in an edge portion of a bucket.

In the past it has been common practice in the art to provide the edgeof a bucket with a plurality of sockets in which bucket teeth can bedetachably secured as by means of fastening bolts or pins or the like.It has been conventional to space the tooth sockets along the edge ofthe bucket as well as to provide a diagonal socket on either or bothcorners of the bucket. Usually if the bucket has a diagonally locatedtooth at only one corner, the next succeeding bucket in the series ofdigger buckets will have the tooth in the opposite corner so that thesecorner teeth alternate in the series of buckets.

In the use of such digger buckets, it has been found that the usualsquare end cutter teeth chip or wear olf at the corners. This isespecially true of the diagonally located corner teeth which rapidlywear back, decreasing the cutting width of the bucket to a point thatthe ditch width is not enough to provide proper clearance for the bucketline and supporting boom.

Also, the square end cutter teeth cut a series of rectangular grooves inthe face of the ditch which causes the sides' as well as the front ofthe teeth to cut the material, which action adds to the powerrequirements.

In addition, due to strength requirements, the body of the tooth is sothick that as the edge wears back an additional thickness of metal ispresented for cutting which requires more pressure and more power fordigging and also slows up the digging action.

lt is an object, therefore, of this invention to provide an improveddigger tooth having a convexly curved cutting edge on the end of arelatively thin concave-convex blade section which due to its form isrelatively strong and as the edge wears back presents substantially thesame thickness of metal at the cutting end of the tooth, the cuttingaction being done by the forward convex curved edge and not by thesides. In reality the curved cutting edges of the teeth, when they arespaced alternately on the forward edge of the successive brackets,remove the material or soil in the form of scallops, thereby enablingthe soil to be cut freely and with less power especially in the case ofa clay type soil. In gravel soil such curved teeth in cutting approach apick action.

Another object of this invention is to provide a digger tooth which hasat each of its ends a convexly curved cutting edge so that the tooth maybe reversed in position in its socket when one edge is worn or damaged.

Another object of this invention is to provide in a digger bucketstructure an improved digger tooth which in conjunction with its matingsocket will be self-locating and to a certain extent self-clamping,under digg-ing action, but will not jam so as to be hard to remove, andalso, to provide means to keep it from falling out under otherconditions.

We have found if a digger tooth is this feature lto be advantageoussince provided with a bolt of sufficient size tooth socket portions '14,each of which to hold it in place, considerable diculty is encounteredwhen changing teeth due to jamming or eezing to the nut, etc. On theother hand, if tapered fits, of such proportions as to be self-retainingwere used, as in our invention, the freezing disadvantage of boltedteeth is eliminated. We propose to use a wedge arrangement such as toovercome previous objections and make practical forging and castingpractices. The wedging angle We use, is such that the projection lengthof the tooth beyond the socket is held to a reasonable tolerance inspite of a relatively loose iit of the tooth in the socket.

We therefore provide for use in a bucket tooth socket of curvedcross-section, a digger tooth comprising a 1ongitudinally channeledelement terminating in a blade of concave-convex curved cross-sectionwith a convexly curved cutting edge at its outermost extremity; theblade being of substantially uniform cross-section so that the cuttingedge as it wears back, is not substantially thickened.

Another feature of the invention relates to providing the channeledtooth element with identical blade sections at its opposite extremitieswhich are selectively usable by reversal of position of the element inthe bucket socket.

Yet another feature of the invention relates to providing anintermediate portion of the channeled tooth element with a thickenedboss inside of the channel and having a sloping surface for wedgingcontact with a portion of the bucket inside of the bucket tooth socket,whereby the tooth will be self-positioning and self-clamping in thesocket.

Another and further feature of the invention relates to providing thewedging boss of the channeled tooth with a hole loosely receiving apin-like member which serves to prevent the tooth element from droppingout of its socket upon any disengagement of the wedged contact betweenthe tooth and the wall of the socket.

Another feature of our tooth is that the sloping surface nearest thecutting edge, in conjunction with the leading edge of the bucket abovethe same, forms a stripper that promotes a scouring action and tends' todeflect the material upward so that it is less liable to become packedin the bucket.

Other objects and features of this invention will more fully appear fromthe following detailed description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings which illustrate a single embodiment thereof andin which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a bucket having spaced curved sockets withchanneled digging teeth which embody the features of the invention;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional View taken on substantially the line II-Ilof Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is an enlarged plan view of one of the digger teeth;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional View taken lon substantiallythe line IV-IV of Figure 3, looking in the direction indicated by thearrows;

Figure 5 is an end view of the tooth shown in Figlure 3; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary end view of one of the sockets in the bucketedge and showing the socket with the tooth removed.

As shown on the drawings:

The reference character 10 (Figs. l and 2) designates generally a diggerbucket which may be of any suitable construction as long as its forwardedge is provided with sockets of such type that they will accommodatethe digger teeth of our invention. This bucket, as shown, includes abottom 11 and opposite sides 12-12; the bottom terminating in a forwardedge portion 13 having spaced is adapted to receive a digger tooth 15embodying this invention.

In Figures 2 and 6, we have shown the construction of the socketportions 14 which are substantially identical in construction; and hencea description of one will suftice for all. Y

Each socket portion 14 includes an elongated socket hole 16 ofconcave-convex cross-sectional shape corresponding with thecross-sectional contour of the tooth so that a tooth may be insertedendwise into such socket hole.

Also each socket portion has a projection 17 extending into the sockethole 16 and which terminates on its forward or outer side in a slopingor inclined surface 18 for wedging cooperation with the teeth 15 (Fig.2).

Since all of the digger teeth 15 are identical and interchangeable, adescription of one will suce for all. The digger tooth 15 of ourinvention is best shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5. It will be noted thatthis digger tooth comprises an elongated channeled element ofconcave-convex curved cross-section. The ends of this element are formedinto opposite blade sections 20-20 which are identical and each of whichterminates on its outermost extremity in a convexly curved cutting edge21.

The two blade sections 20 have between them an enlargement or boss 22projecting into the channel of the tooth. This boss 22 is provided witha transverse hole 23 substantially midway between the cutting edges21-21. Also the boss 22 is connected at opposite sides to the bladesections 20-20 by sloping out wedge surfaces 24-24.

As noted before the channeled tooth is of generally the samecross-sectional contour as that of the bucket socket hole 16 so vthateither of its ends may be inserted endwise into the socket portion.

Now due to the fact that the projection 17 of the socket portion is inthe path of a tooth inserted in the socket its slanting surface 18 willcome into wedging contact with one of the wedge surfaces 24 on thetooth, depending on which end of the tooth is inserted in a socket. Oncethe tooth is inserted in the socket a slight pressure of its exposedcutting edge 21 will result in the tooth being frictionally clamped orwedged against the sloping surface 18 of the socket projection 17. Thisenables the tooth to be self-clamping and positioning in the socketduring the digging action. In other words the sloping surfaces providefor tight frictional load bearing contact between the tooth and thebucket.

However, in order to prevent any possibility of the tooth becomingaccidentally displaced or dropping out of the bucket when the bucket isupside down, a cotter pin 25 is used. From Figure 2, it will be apparentthat the pin extends through the hole 23 in the tooth, which hole isconsiderably larger than the shank of the pin although the pin istightly clamped to the cooperating socket portion 14.

Now'by reason of the fact that the boss 22 of the tooth is looselyfitted around the shank of the cotter pin 25,'it follows that the pin isnot subjected to any pressure during the digging operation. As a matterof fact any pressure against the exposed cutting edge 21 of the tooth istranslated into increased wedging pressure between the tooth and thebucket socket portion.

It is further clear that upon the cutting edge becoming badly worn ordamaged the tooth may be easily removed by first removing the pin andthen lightly tapping on the innermost end of the tooth to disengage thewedge contact between the surfaces 18 and 24. Thereafter, since the endsof the tooth are identical, the tooth may be reversed in position so asto expose the other cutting edge for digging action.

A very important feature of the invention relates to the convex curvingof cutting edge 21 so that its medial portion is forwardmost and wherebythere are no corners presented at the ends of the cutting edge such aswould be present in a straight edge. This convex curving of the edgeprovides' clearance at the ends of the edge for material or soil to owfreely as the same is cut and with less power. When a series of theseteeth are used in spaced relationship, they will remove or cut the soilin the form of scallops which is especially advantageous in digging claysoil. In a gravel type of soil our novel curved tooth will approach inaction a pick action.

In addition, when one of our curved teeth is set at an angle in thecorner socket of the bucket, we find it cuts more freely than a squareor straight edge tooth and does not have any corners to wear off.Therefore, it maintains ditch width and proper clearance much longer.

From Figure 4 it will be clear that each socket portion or section 20 isof substantially uniform cross-sectional thickness so that relativelylittle or substantially no thickness occurs at the cutting edge as itwears in continued digging. This is very important as these teeth of ourinvention have been found to require less pressure to be forced into theface of the cut, use less power when digging and also enable fasterditching action.

In the foregoing description it has been assumed that the concave sideof the tooth is located uppermost, however, in some cases it might beadvantageous to form the bucket socket with its concave side lowermostso that the tooth can be used with its convex side uppermost in order toget a so-called rooting action.

While we have found that a double ended tooth is especially desirousfrom the standpoint of economy in manufacture, strength in constructionand double duty in usage, it may be desirable in some instances to useonly a single ended tooth.

The shape of the tooth in combination with the tooth support or socket,strips material from the tooth and thus minimizes packing in the bucket.This feature is evident from Fig. 2 wherein it will be observed that thesocket or tooth retaining wall portion 14 is below the top surface ofthe bucket bottom 11 and wherein the channel in each tooth 15 isarranged to guide the material upwardly over the forward edge 13 of thebucket.

We claim as our invention:

l. ln combination in a digger bucket structure, a bucket having a bottomterminating in anV edge provided with a multiple of spaced digger toothsockets and a digger tooth mounted in each socket and each comprising alongitudinally channeled member of generally concaveconvex cross sectionhaving opposite ends formed with rounded cutting edges, said memberhaving extending transversely into its channel a thickened intermediatemounting boss tapering at opposite sides toward said edges to definewedge mounting surfaces each of which is spaced from the adjoiningcutting edge by a section of said member of relatively thin crosssection leading into the cutting edge, said channeled member dening atrough for conducting dug material toward and above said boss, each ofsaid tooth sockets having a concavely formed tooth supporting wall fortelescopingly receiving lengthwise said channeled tooth and aninternalinclined wall complementary to a tapered side of said tooth boss andagainst which said boss is wedged when the tooth is inserted in theconcavely formed wall of the Socket.

2. In a digger bucket structure, a bucket having a bottom terminating ina forward edge provided with a plurality of spaced tooth receivingsockets each-having a tooth supporting wall extending inwardly of saidforward bucket edge below the plane of the bucket bottom, a digger toothfor each socket and each having one end detachably telescoping a socketand supported on said wall, the other and outer end of each tooth beingformed into a longitudinally channeled concave-convex relatively thinblade terminating lin an outwardly and uniformly convexly curvedtransverse cutting edge, said tooth channel comprising a trough forconducting dug material cut by said edge rearwardly up over said forwardbucket edge onto the surface of the bucket bottom, each of said usockets having interiorly thereof a wedge surface Aengageable with theinserted end of the tooth to press the tooth wedgingly against saidsupporting wall of the socket.

3. A bucket digger tooth comprising a longitudinally channeled member ofgenerally concave-convex cross section having opposite end portionsformed with transverse rounded cutting edges, said member havingextending therefrom an intermediate boss projecting into said channelsubstantially midway of said cutting edges and tapering at oppositesides toward said cutting edges to define wedge mounting surfaces, eachof which is spaced from the adjoining cutting edge by a section of saidmember of relatively thin cross section leading into the cutting edge,said channeled member defining a trough for conducting dug material fromone cutting edge toward and above said boss.

4. In a digger bucket having a bottom with a leading forward edgeportion, an enlargement on said forward edge portion having a channeledtooth receiving socket adapted to detachably support a digger tooth,said socket being dei-ined by generally concentric top and bottom wallsof concave-convex curved cross section, one of said walls having aprojection extending therefrom within said socket from a point spaced asubstantial distance inwardly of the entering end of the socket thereofand having a sloping wedging surface engageable with a digger tooth wheninserted in the socket.

5. In a digger bucket structure including a bottom havirig a forwarddigger tooth supporting edge, said edge having a series of spacedenlargements each of which has a tooth receiving socket dened by top andbottom generally concentric spaced curved walls and one of said wallshaving in said socket a projection extending toward the other wallinside the space separating the Walls and provided interiorly of thesocket with an inclined tooth wedging surface.

6. ln a digger bucket structure including a bottom having a forwarddigger tooth supporting edge, said edge having a series of spacedenlargements each of which has a tooth receiving socket dened by top andbottom generally concentric spaced curved walls and one of said Wallshaving in said socket a boss extending toward the other wall inside thespace separating the Walls and provided with an inclined tooth wedgingsurface, said concentric Walls having transversely alined fasteningelement receiving holes intersecting said socket.

7. The digger bucket structure of claim 4 further characterized by adigger tooth of channeled cross section in each socket and having athickened portion wedgingly engaged by the socket sloping wedgingsurface.

8. The digger bucket structure of claim 5 further characterized by alongitudinally channeled tooth in each socket and wedgingly engaged bysaid socket inclined tooth surface.

9. The digger bucket structure of claim 6 further characterized by atooth detachably mounted in each socket and provided with a fasteningelement extending into the alined holes in the socket walls.

l0. For use in a digger bucket socket tooth comprising a rigid unitarymember having a generally concaveconvex longitudinally channeled sectionterminating in an outer cutting edge curved convexly outwardly in thedirection of the length of the tooth, said member having extending inits channel and generally perpendicular thereto a thickened portion fordisposition in the bucket socket, said channeled section between itscutting edge and said thickened portion being longitudinally taperedupwardly in the channel toward said portion and defining a trough withan inclined bottom for conducting material from the cutting edge oversaid thickened portion.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.8,245 Luse May 21, 1878 265,288 Stonesifer Oct. 3, 1882 841,530 JohnsonJan. 15, 1907 1,258,109 Goeldner Mar. 5, 1918 1,461,136 Moore July 10,1923 1,522,860 Boots Ian. 13, 1925 1,887,409 Hansen Nov. 8, 19322,092,311 Hosmer et al Sept. 7, 1937 2,167,425 Page July 25, 19392,220,819 Johnson Nov. 5, 1940 2,251,169 Seal July 29, 1941 2,308,162Frank Jan. 12, 1943 2,353,685 Askue July 18, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 2,949Great Britain 1892 448,676 Great Britain June 12, 1936 OTHER REFERENCESDixon: Art Metals Crafts Tools and Supplies, William Dixon Inc.,32-34-36 E. Kinney St., Newark, N. J. Cop right 1933. Received in PatentOihce August 18, 1936.

